Key Points
-
When you think of investing in AI, big names like Nvidia, Alphabet and Meta may come to mind. But there are tons of smaller companies in the space.
-
You can purchase a number of promising AI-related companies for under $10 per share.
-
A few of these stocks returned over 100% in the last year.
- Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.(Sponsor)
Wall Street has been increasingly piling into AI stocks over the past few years, and the trend only looks to be accelerating. You have likely heard of the top AI names, such as NVDA and privately held OpenAI. However, digging deeper into the market is worth it because cheaper names can still carry far more potential than their headline-grabbing peers.
Many of these AI stocks trade for less than $10 per share, meaning any contract win, product launch, or analyst upgrade can translate into outsized percentage gains in a short period of time.
Remember that stocks below $10 come with smaller market capitalizations and are risky. These picks should ideally constitute a small portion of your entire portfolio.
#10 Palladyne AI Corp. (PDYN)
Palladyne AI makes artificial intelligence/machine learning “edge” firmware that lets third-party robots and unmanned systems perceive, learn, and adapt with minimal training and edge processing. It is targeting factories, warehouses, and defense customers.
The company’s revenue is tiny, but the potential is big. Because the platform slashes deployment cost and time, management believes it can unlock a far wider robotics TAM. Shares are $6.52 and the stock is up 53.05% year to date (as of Jan. 31). The market cap is $291.505 million.
#9 01 Quantum Inc. (OONEF)
01 Quantum (formerly 01 Communique) focuses on post-quantum cybersecurity under the IronCAP brand. The main product is the patent-protected IronCAP toolkit.
Why it’s interesting: The bull case is that every enterprise and chain will have to retool encryption before “Q-Day,” which can give 01 Quantum a first-mover advantage plus a growing patent moat. Shares are only $0.40 and the stock has a one-year return of over 75%. The market cap is $43.975 million.
#8 Stereotaxis Inc. (STXS)
Stereotaxis (market cap $204.381 million) sells robotic systems that let cardiologists perform minimally invasive heart procedures. Revenue comes from a hybrid razor-and-blade model where hospitals buy or lease the robot, and then commit to multi-year service contracts and disposable device kits.
The bull case is that STXS is a “baby Intuitive Surgical” with massive potential. There’s plenty of competition, but it’s presumable that a lab digitization push can make the stock pop more. You can buy STXS for $2.91. The stock is down 4.78% YTD.
#7 BOS Better Online Solutions Ltd. (BOSC)
BOS sells industrial automation and supply chain products. It builds custom robotic work-cells for factories and supplies RFID tags/readers so customers can track inventory in real time, and buys kits plus electronics for defense contractors who want just-in-time delivery to the production line.
Why it’s interesting: It sells a complete hardware + software + service package and can land big contracts as more factories seek automation. BOS’s market cap is $29.878 million and shares are $4.83. The stock is up 5.92% YTD.
#6 GSI Technology Inc. (GSIT)
GSI Technology is a fabless semiconductor company known for high-performance SRAM memory and associative computing. Its portfolio has radiation-tolerant SRAMs and the Gemini/APU line for similarity search and edge AI workloads.
With a market cap of $254.269 million, GSI shares cost $7.22. GSIT is up 16.18% year to date.
#5 BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. (BBAI)
BigBear.ai sells AI decision intelligence software. This includes threat detection and geospatial intel. The company is being seen as a “mini Palantir” with significant upside potential as the Pentagon pushes for AI integration.
BigBear’s market cap is $2.308 billion. Shares ($5.04) were up 22.33% in the last year.
#4 Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc. (EVLV)
Priced at $6.19 per share, Evolv sells AI-based weapons detection systems, notably Evolv Express, to screen for firearms and other threats at venues such as schools, hospitals, stadiums, and workplaces. There’s a large addressable market as more venues replace outdated metal detectors with Evolv’s products.
Evolv’s market cap is $1.081 billion. EVLV increased 54.75% in the last year.
#3 Richtech Robotics Inc. (RR)
Richtech Robotics sells AI service robots for various use cases. Its portfolio spans robots like ADAM (robotic bar/cafe), Scorpion (cleaning), and more. There’s a massive addressable market due to the breadth of its portfolio.
The company has a market cap of $800.474 million. Shares are valued at $3.58 and are up nearly 48% in the last year.
#2 Mobilicom Ltd. (MOB)
Mobilicom sells cybersecure, end-to-end hardware and software solutions for drones, robotics, and autonomous platforms, such as datalinks, controllers, fleet management, and cybersecurity suites. Drone cybersecurity is rapidly growing. The company also has a patent moat.
Shares are $6.49 and the market cap is $77.572 million. The stock rose 124.39% in the last year.
#1 Volatus Aerospace Inc. (TAKOF)
Volatus sells AI-powered drones for mapping and surveillance. It also trains pilots. The company’s revenue is growing fast and holds rare BVLOS approvals from the FAA, plus a NATO drone order.
TAKOF ($0.41 per share) jumped nearly 244% in the last year. The market cap is $278.669 million.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©PopTika.